On the welfare benefits of an international currency

Is it beneficial for a country's currency to be used internationally? And, if so, can we quantify the benefit? Since the emergence of the euro, there has been great interest in the consequences of a transfer of the dollar's premier international role to the euro. This paper presents a novel model-based approach towards assessing the welfare benefits associated with the international use of a country's currency. Apart from the familiar benefits associated with seigniorage, residents of the issuing country experience an increase in the purchasing power of their currency both at home and abroad. In the calibration exercise carried out in this paper, we find the benefits of an international currency to be quantitatively significant. The welfare gain for the Euro area in having the euro internationally used ranges from 1.9% to 2.3% of consumption depending on relative inflation rates. The rest of the world is not indifferent as to which currency circulates as the dominant international currency. Conditional on their currency not being used internationally, their preference is for the dominant international currency to be the one with the lowest inflation rate.     

东亚美元本位、浮动恐惧和原罪

概要亚洲金融危机以前 ,包括中国在内的东亚国家———除了日本———都把本国的货币与美元挂钩。为了避免进一步的混乱 ,国际货币基金组织曾建议这些国家的汇率应该进一步自由浮动。可是 ,我们的分析表明 ,到目前为止 ,美元在东亚国家的货币篮子里依然占据绝对比重 ,也就是说 ,东亚国家的汇率制度基本上又回到了危机以前。到 2 0 0 2年 ,每一个东亚国家货币对美元的每日波幅已经非常微小 ,以至于可以忽略不计。同时 ,大多数东亚国家迅速积累了作为“战争基金”的官方外汇储备 ,这预示着汇率稳定将从每日延续到每月和每个季度。从“原罪”(…     

欧元挑战美元:失去的机会

早在10年前,在欧元创立之初,欧元的国际地位就被提上了国际议程。随着全球金融危机的爆发,对美元的全球角色的质疑日渐增多,欧元受到了进一步关注。然而,当美元的国际地位备受审查时,欧盟及其货币还没有承担起任何积极主动的角色。本文探讨的是,欧元是否能逐渐成为国际货币,不仅在欧盟及其他国家的贸易中,还要在第三国之间的贸易中被使用,即欧元是否能挑战美元的当前地位,在国际货币体系中成为主要储备货币。     

VEHICLE CURRENCY*

Historically, the world economy has been dominated by a single currency accepted in the exchange of goods and assets among countries. In recent decades, the U.S. dollar has played this role. The dollar acts as a “vehicle currency” in the sense that agents in nondollar economies will generally engage in currency trade indirectly using the U.S. dollar instead of using direct bilateral trade among their own currencies. A vehicle currency is desirable when there are transactions costs of exchange. This article constructs a dynamic general equilibrium model of a vehicle currency. We explore the nature of the efficiency gains arising from a vehicle currency and show how it depends on the total number of currencies in existence, the size of the vehicle currency economy, and the monetary policy followed by the vehicle currency’s government. We find that there can be significant welfare gains to a vehicle currency in a system of many independent currencies. But these gains are asymmetrically weighted toward the residents of the vehicle currency country. The survival of a vehicle currency places natural limits on the monetary policy of the vehicle currency country.     

后危机时期国际金融格局的变动及其对美国经济的影响

2008年金融危机给世界经济带来了重大的影响,国际金融格局也发生了显著变化。本文主要分析了国际汇率体系、国际收支和国际储备体系、国别经济政策与国际间经济政策协调的变化。在后危机时期,美国经济也受国际金融格局变化的影响,包括美元中心地位的问题、“中心一外围”模式可持续性的问题和美国的国际经济领导权问题。本文得出的主要结论是：国际几种主要货币汇率波动增大,国际汇率体系弹性增大,国际收支总体失衡程度下降,美元为主的国际储备体系呈多元化趋势,先进经济体与新兴发展经济体的经济协调在加强,美元的霸权地位面临挑战,美国在国际分工中的中心地位在下降,美国在国际经济的主导地位也在逐渐下降,新兴经济体获得更多的话语权。     

Network effects,homogeneous goods and international currency choice: New evidence on oil markets from an older era

Conventional wisdom has it that network effects are strong in markets for homogenous goods, leading to the dominance of one settlement currency in such markets. The dominance of the US dollar in global oil markets is said to epitomize this phenomenon. We question this presumption with evidence for earlier periods showing that several national currencies have simultaneously played substantial roles in global oil markets. European oil import payments before and after World War II were split between the dollar and non‐dollar currencies, mainly sterling. Differences in use of the dollar across countries were associated with trade linkages with the United States and the size of the importing country. That several national currencies could simultaneously play a role in international oil settlements suggests that a shift from the current dollar‐based system toward a multipolar system in the period ahead is not impossible.     

信用本位、对称竞争与国际货币多元化

运用博弈论的方法分析对称竞争性国际货币多元化体系的稳定性问题可知，在信用本位的背景下，建立在对称竞争基础上的国际货币多元化体系具有内生的稳定性。欧元、日元、英镑和人民币作为国际货币，虽在其背后均存在不同形武的发展障碍，但其均具有成为与美元并重的对称竞争性国际货币的可能性。     

Currency Areas and International Monetary Reform at the Dawn of a New Century

The Asian crisis and the creation of the euro have jump-started once again discussion of exchange rate systems, currency areas, and international monetary reform. The role of power in the international monetary system is discussed and its relevance to analysis of the new euro area as an instigator of change in the power configuration of the system. The dollar, euro, and yen areas have achieved a high degree of price stability, but international efficiency is seriously undermined by exchange rate gyrations of these three currencies. The best path to international monetary reform leads through a new international currency called the INTOR based on a G-3 monetary union platform possibly linked to gold.     

人民币国际化与国际货币体系改革

从美国债务上限调整的议案及美国信贷主权评级的下调,可见现行由美元和欧元所组成的二元国际货币体系并不稳定。为测度出人民币的引入能否增加国际货币体系的稳定性,本文先建立面板回归模型分析影响一国货币国际化的基础条件因素,并在模型的基础上,测度出人民币在可自由兑换后将成为一个能与欧元相互抗衡的国际货币。通过方差比较,本文论证了由美元、欧元和人民币三种货币所组成的外汇储备组合较二元体系下的稳定,说明人民币国际化有助于改革现行的二元体系,使国际货币体系发展成为更稳定的三元体系,从而促进全球经济的健康发展。     

大国货币崛起的中国道路：人民币孕育成长百年历程*

经历四十余年改革开放，中国经济迅速崛起，作为主权货币的人民币逐步迈向世界货币舞台。基于此，人民币如何走上与欧美主要货币比肩的大国货币道路便引起人们的广泛关注。本文试图就此谈些看法。本文认为，若要客观准确地分析和评判人民币迈向大国货币之路，必须着眼于历史逻辑与理论逻辑的统一视角。仅从理论逻辑看，英镑美元道路似乎是人民币迈向大国货币的必然选择，但若着眼于历史逻辑，此种选择的合理性则会大打折扣。历史地看，中国货币制度长期由超大规模经济与低值货币本位加以塑造而呈现出十分独特的格局，由此决定其具有更多服务于国内经济民生的特质，这与一些欧美国家货币动辄充当对外扩张与建立世界霸权的工具形成鲜明对照。人民币制度无疑受到中国货币传统的影响，特别是经历近代以降百余年来的民族危亡与自强图存，作为该制度的肇建者，中国共产党人深知币制独立与币值稳定之重要，因此自始至终以服务国内经济民生为要而缓图国际使用，结果出现经济规模与主权货币国际化的不对称格局。最终，问题就归结为如何客观认识这种不对称格局，也就是说，对于人民币成长为大国货币而言，这种格局是“悖论”还是“特色”？本文的结论是：人民币成为大国货币是中国经济崛起的结果而非前提，因此须在基本条件上合理安排迈向大国货币的次序，特别是要审慎把握国际使用的节奏，走出大国货币成长的中国道路。     

RENMINBISING CHINA'S FOREIGN ASSETS

Since the 2008 global financial crisis, China has rolled out a number of initiatives to actively promote the international role of the renminbi and to denominate more of its international claims away from the US dollar and into the renminbi. The present paper discusses the factors shaping the prospects of internationalising the renminbi from the perspective of the currency composition of China's international assets and liabilities. These factors include, among others, underlying valuation and management of the renminbi.     

美元短期走势分析

目前美元仍是各国外汇储备持有的主要资产,美国的货币和资本市场是世界上最具广度和深度的成熟市场之一,在未来相当长的时期里,美元资产仍将是包括中国在内的各国政府和民间对外投资的主要组成部分。美元贬值与世界经济走势并非经济基本面因素所致,美元走弱还属于货币当局“可控制的贬值”。高油价及通货膨胀的困扰,次级债危机的冲击使本来就不明朗的美国经济前景更加暗淡,无论是从美国的国内经济还是国际经济的基本面来分析,美元短期贬值已是大势所趋,无可挽回了。     

Beyond associative democracy

This article proposes a cognitive and empirical approach, based on in-depth semi-structured elite interviews, to analyse the extent to which the dollar is becoming a negotiated international currency in the perception of financial elites in China, Brazil and the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council. It shows that while the greenback is still the top currency in the system due to a lack of alternatives, its long term dominance is questioned because its economic pre-eminence and its political leadership are perceived to be fading. This in turn is stimulating financial elites in emerging markets to promote alternative regional monetary frameworks and the internationalisation of their own currencies. The article explores how financial elites in key dollar holding countries react to the US ‘exorbitant privilege’ of not facing disciplinary constraints in its economic policies. It then examines how the US has been able to misuse its central position in the system by delaying and deflecting adjustment costs upon others, and illustrates the disapproving response that this has provoked in emerging markets and Europe. Finally, it concentrates on Chinese proposals to renegotiate the status of the dollar in the system and why these have been hitherto rejected by the US.     

欧元:从现在看未来

欧元自诞生以来取得了初步成功,包括促进了欧元区经济一体化的发展,取得了仅次于美元的第二大国际货币的地位。但是,欧元还面临着许多挑战,尤其是欧盟的政治一体化的滞后。今后一段时期欧元还会健康成长。     

人民币升值能改变中国的贸易顺差吗

本文使用非线性平滑转换模型研究了人民币升值对我国贸易顺差的动态影响,研究发现在样本时期内非线性模型能更好地拟合两者的动态关系,在非线性条件下,当期人民币升值将会使贸易顺差增加,前两期人民币升值将会导致当期贸易顺差减少,人民币升值对贸易顺差的影响表现出很强的非线性门限特征。人民币汇率对贸易差额影响的时间路径像是一个"倒J-曲线"。2000年以来人民币汇率虽然一直在发挥着降低贸易顺差的作用,但是,人民币汇率不是贸易顺差形成的主要原因。     

The Borrower of Last Resort: International Adjustment and Liquidity in a Historical Perspective

The stability of the international monetary system hinges on a dominant country acting as an international lender of last resort, injecting liquidity by recycling surpluses to countries facing balance of payments problems. The efficacy of this mechanism does not depend on the dominant country retaining a “creditor” status. Rather it has depended historically, on the dominant country’s ability to continue to borrow, in the face of growing external deficits without undermining the status of its currency as international money. A pivotal role is played by the institutional mechanisms that allow the dominant country to borrow from surplus countries on one hand and lead to increasing fragility in peripheral debtor countries on the other. The paper argues that such triangular adjustment patterns underlay both the gold standard period where Britain was a net creditor and the present “floating dollar regime” where the United States is a net debtor.     

Tobin Tax and Volatility: A Threshold Quantile Autoregressive Regression Framework

From an original data set on the euro–dollar and on the won–dollar currency pairs (2008–2010), we conduct a threshold quantile autoregressive model to explain the role of a Tobin tax (TT) on the exchange rate volatility, taking into account two types of nonlinearity (regimes and quantiles). We find evidence that the impact of a TT would not be monotonic. A TT may be a good instrument to stabilize foreign exchange volatility only in normal times and/or in efficient markets. In contrast, a TT could be counterproductive in turbulent periods by increasing the volatility. In addition, by comparing a major currency pair (euro/dollar) and a minor currency pair (won/dollar), it appears that the potential stabilizing effect of a TT would be more clear‐cut in the low volatility regime of a major currency pair, similar to the euro/dollar. Our results do not corroborate the previous studies that derived a monotonic and positive impact of a TT on volatility.     

对当前提高中国黄金储备规模的思考

自20世纪70年代以来,黄金在国际储备中的地位被主权货币所取代。但近年来,随着美元对国际主要货币汇率的频繁下挫和当前为应对金融危机所采取的定量宽松政策,以美元为主要外汇储备形式的国家面临严重的汇率风险损失和实际资产缩水,提高黄金储备规模由此受到广泛关注。对此,在深入分析全球黄金储备变动情况的基础上指出,一国只有根据其外汇储备的管理目标、风险偏好以及对经济发展长期走势的判断等因素来具体选择增持黄金储备资产的规模和时机并采取科学、审慎、灵活的管理策略,才能实现缓解外汇储备风险、维护国民财富安全的目的。     

Measuring Exchange Rate Uncertainty: The Case of the Australian Dollar 1969 to 1987

In this article indices of exchange rate uncertainty are measured from the perspective of potential impacts on trade flows. Empirical evidence based on movements in the Australian dollar spot rates and forward rates indicates that there has been an increase in currency risk between 1969 and 1987, which is not surprising given the progressive relaxation of the exchange rate regime during this period. More surprising is the finding that exchange rate uncertainty indices have risen relative to domestic financial price uncertainty indices. This would not have been expected to occur if increased currency risk had been solely due to growing instability of the underlying economic environment. However, since there is evidence that currency risk has been offset by domestic risk, the risk burden of diversified international traders may not have been adversely affected.     

破解“特里芬”难题——主权信用货币充当国际储备的稳定性

主权信用货币是否注定充当国际储备货币面临两难,尚缺乏严格的理论与实证。本文的贡献在于,证明了在现代国际货币体系下,主权信用货币充当国际储备保持稳定性的条件是国际储备货币发行国实际经济增长率大于或者等于通货膨胀率与国际储备货币收益率之和。以美元为例的实证研究表明,在布雷顿森林体系与现代国际货币体系下,美元国际储备长时间偏离保持稳定性的可持续水平,这为布雷顿森林体系的崩溃提供了新的解释,当前的美元困境也得到了经验验证。对此,我国必须深入研究美元主导的巨额外汇储备资产安全性问题,同时构建保持国际储备货币稳定性的政策机制。